Centrifugal cleaner for circulating liquids



2 Sheets-Sheet 1 W. W. STRYKER CENTRIFUGAL CLEANER FOR CIRCULATING LIQUIDS Filed Aug. 5,1920

ApriI Z I, 1925.

IN V EN TOR.

A TTORNEYI April 21, 1925.

1,534,191 w. w. STRYKER CENTRIFUGAE CLEANER FOR CIRGULATING LIQUIDS Filed Au yp, 1920 2 Sheets-5116M 2 /7- d/ an; 2

. 1770197722)? W.W6Z7 ker Patented Apr. 21, 1925.

UNITED STATES 1,534,191 PATENT OFFICE.

WALTER W. STRYKER, OF DAYTON, DHIO EDWARD T. JONES ADMINISTRATOR'OF SAID WALTER W. STRYKER, DECEASED.

CENTRIFUGAL CLEANER FOR CIR/GULATING- LTQUIDS.

Application filed August 3,

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WALTER W. S'rnrlmn, a citizen of the United States, residing at Dayton, in the county of Montgomery and State of Ohio, have invented a new and useful Centrifugal Cleaner for Circulating Liquids, of which the following is a specification.

My'invention relates to a method and means for removing foreign matter from circulating liquids, and it has a special reference to the removal of grit, particles of free from grit and other foreign substances injurious to the bearings, and the most. satisfactory solution so far found is to change the oil frequently. But even where this is done it does not altogether remove the difficulty, and, furthermore, frequent changing of the oil involves considerable trouble and expense. For this reason numerous efforts have been made to clean the oil bypassing it through strainers or filters of various kinds as it circulates through the machine. But it has been found that a strainer fine enough to arrest the objectionable particles impairs the circulation of the oil to such an extent as to make their use impractical. Furthermore, such strainers become clogged very quickly and on the whole they have been far from successful. i

The need for a method by'which oil can bekcleaned as it circulates through the machine has been -demonstrated again and again. It is needed in automobile engines, in the engines of farm tractors, etc; also in various other machines using the oil circulatingsyste'm. The bearings of engines and other machines where the circulatory lubricating system is used are'ever present witnesses to the damage done by grit and particles of metal in the oil, but nowhere is the need for a practical oil cleaning device more pressin than in the motors of aeroplanes. Not on y are these motors taxed to more nearly the limit of endurance than any 1920. Serial No. 401,042.

others, but reliability and freedom from weaknesses which may put them out of commission is of. the most vital importance.

Notwithstanding the factthat many of the best engineers have given a great deal of attention to this lubrication problem, no snow cessful solution has yet been found.

The object ofiny invention is to provide means fOl'filGfiIllIlg the oil-at the end of each cycle through the circulation system of a machine, and it consists, briefly, in placing a centrifugal cleaner in the oil circuit so that each time the oil traverses the circuit it passes through the cleaner, which removes all foreign substances. The, oil is thus cleaned vwithout impairing its circulation in the slightest degree and there is no danger of the, circulation being entirely stopped as has so frequently happened through the clogging'of strainers and the like. In order that the device may be en tirely automatic in its operation and never fail to operate when the machine is running, I operate it with power taken from the machine itself. Bythis means the device is not only certain to operate when it is needed, but its operation ceases when the machine stops running.

For the purpose of illustration, I have shown in the accompanying drawings two embodiments of my invention in which:

Fig. 1 illustrates the type wherein the centrifugal element is entirely submerged in oil, while in a Fig. 2'the centrifugal element is not submerged. i

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of .my invention embodied in an attachment on an internal combustion engine, and Fig. 4 is a section of thepump taken on line AA of Fig. 3.

Referring now to the drawings, Fig. 1

shows a cleaner comprising a chamber. 10 closed at the bottom by a cover 11. A flat bottom bowl 12, havinga cylindrical side wall, 13, is riveted to the shaft 14, whichrotates in a bushing 15 mounted in the cover 11. The upper end of the shaft 14 is splined to a gear pump 16 that is driven by shaft I 17. The side wall of the bowl has an inwardly projecting flange 18 on its upper edge, which converts the wall into an annular trough 1'9 concentric to the axis of rotation.

, The above described device is designed for use on an internal combustion motor and is located at a low point in the oil circulating 4 system, so that the chamber is constantly full of oil, the shaft 17 being connected to and. rotated bythe motor. The oil is pumped from the chamber by the gear pump 16 and after its passage. through the lubricating system it flows back to the chamber through the pipe 20, bywhich it is conducted nearly to the bottom of the bowl.

Contact with the rotating surface of the bowl imparts a rotarymotion to theoil,

' which through the action of centrifugal force is made to flow to the trough 19, and as there isa constant flow of oil back to the chamber throu h the pipeg20 the oil that has preceded it is forced upward and out at the ed e of vthe-flange'18. It is not-easy to say w at the precise course of the oilsurface of the oil that remains in the trough and out at the top of the bowl. However that may be, all articles of grit and other foreign matter aving a specific' gravity greater than that ofth oil are thrown into the trough by centrifugal force and arerctained there while" the oil flows on.

In practice .it is found that a viscous or gunmiy. film is-deposited by the oil on the surfaces of the bowl. This deposit 'catches and retains particles of the foreign matter that come into contact with it which might otherwise, because of their low specific gravity, not be removed from theoil by centrifugal force. In order .to clean the bowl the cover 11 may be removed-and the shaft 14 slipped out of the pump 16.- Whilea vertical axis of rotation is preferred it is not essential.

In the device shown in Fig. 2 the same conditions obtain as in that'shown in Fig. 1, with the exception that-the bowl ma remain unsubmerged. In this type the liquid enters the chamber 25 through the pipe 26 and is carried to the bottom of the bowl 27 as in Fig. 1. The bowl is supported and ro-" tated'by. the shaft 28,. which in turn is assumed to be driven bythe motor, not shown. After overflowing the edge of the 'bowl the cleaned oil flows from the chamber through the pipe 29 and back to the circulating system.

This device, like the one first described..-

is assumed to be in the circulatory circuit of the oil, so that all of the oil passes throu h it each time it traverses the system; T e

principal object-of illustrating this type is to call attention to. the fact that submersion of the centrifugal element is not essential. Neither is the chamber or housing essential it merely serves to confine the oil; The b0 l may be located otherwise. For example, it might be placed in the crank case of an engine of the type wherein the oil is picked up by the flywheel from a sump and carried by a pipe to one of a succession of small basins located under the several cranks. This is a well known system of lubrication and in such a case the pipe would and from the bowlit would overflow into the first basin. After passing through this succession of basins the oil flows back to ...grit and particles of iron scale that get into the refrigerating gas, the latter coming from the interior of the many Fipes through which the gas has to pass. hese particles often get into and clog up the, expansion valve, temporarily disabling the system. My device may be installed in the deliver the oil to the rotating bowl gas circulating system and all of the impurities removed from the "gas at some point in each cycle.

I am not prepared to say what causes the viscous deposit on the surfaces of the centrifugal element, although the deposit is evidently something that is contained in the oil: It may be due to the centrifugal action on the oil, which will be many times greater than the action of gravity for the same' length of time. I have experimented on my device with various speeds and .at times havensed speeds in which the centrifugal action was as much as forty times that of gravity, with excellent results. While the viscous deposit referredto is ve useful in arresting particles of low speci c gravity it is not essential to the success of my system. Foreign substances having specific gravities greater than that of the liquid are arrested by the action of centrifugal force without the aid of this deposit.

Among other places where my invention is applicable is in cleaning. the water used to coolthe engines of boats.- Much damage is done to the water circulating pum s used in boats by grit in the water drawn rectl from the river, lake or'other body onwhicl i .the boat floats.

With reference more particularly to the structure shown in Fi 3, the engine 30 is shown as provided with a crank case 31 and an oil sump 32, which in turn is provided with suitable means 33 for the recepturn driven by the crank shaft 322 It will be readily seen that the oil draining into the oil sump will pass out the lease of the sump into the pipe or channel and thence into thecentrifugal cleaner bowl 13,

its stream of flow being directed against the bottom of said bowl at a point near the axis of rotation of and immediately adjacent the bottom of said bowl. The rotation of shaft 17 rotates the bowl 1.3, throwing the particles of grit and dirt to the side of the bowl and permitting the purified oil, as

it continues to fiow in, to pass over the edge of the inbent sides of the bowl into the chamber and thence to the gear pump 16 and back through theJubrication system of the motor. K 7

It is to be understood that the physical embodiments of my invention here shown are "by no means the only ones of" which it is capable. They merely show certain practical applications of what I believe to be a novel means for solving a certain definite and serious problem. I am aware that centrifugal cleaners have been employed, for oil and other liquids and do not make any claims to that. I believe, however, that I.

am the, first to' apply the principles here referred to in 'the way and for the purpose shown, and what I claim is as follows:

1. .In a centrifugal separator, a fluid-tight chamber having an inlet and an outlet, a rotatable bowl mounted in the chamber and having an imperforate bottom and an inbent side wall forming an annular trough, and means for conducting material to be treated from the chamber inlet into the bowl in a stream directed against the bottomof the same at a point adjacent the axis of rota tion and arm thereof.

ing provided-in one wallof thechamber, the opposite wall of the chamber having an opening, a removable cover for the "said chamber openin a shaft bearing provided in the cover, a driving shaft adapted to fit .rotatably in both bearings when the cover is in closed position, a rotatable centrifugal bowl having imperforate bottom attached to the shaft and adapted to work in the chamber, and means for feeding the liquid to be treated through the open end of the bowl and delivering the same at a point adjacent the bottom and axis of rotation of said bowl.

3. In a centrifugal separator, a chamber having an inlet and an outlet, a shaft bearing provided in one wall of the chamber, the opposite wall of the chamber having an opening, a removable 'cover for the said chamber opening, a shaft bearing provided in the cover, a driving shaft adapted to fit rotatably in both bearings when the cover is in closed position, a rotatable bowl attached to the shaft and adapted to work in the chamber, the said bowl having an imperforate bottom and inbent side walls to form an annular trough, and means for directingmaterial to be treated from the inlet into the bowl at a point adjacent the axis of rotation thereof and in a stream directed against and at a point in proximity to the bottom of said bowl.

4:. A centrifugal cleaning device, a fluid tight chamber having a removable cover, a bearing in the base-pf said chamber, a hearing in the removable cover, a shaft adapted to be rotatably mounted in saidbearings, a rotatable-bowl mounted on said shaft and adapted to rotate therewith, and a positively actuating pump also mounted on said shaft within said chamber for forcing the material to be treated out of said-fluid-tight chamber after the same has flowed out of said rotatable bowl.

' 5. A liquid cleaning device, a chamber having a means for admitting liquid to said.

chamber, a cleaning means in said chamber, a shaft in said chamber for operating said cleaning means, and a pump in said chamber operated'by said shaft for forcing liquid out of said chamber.

WALTER W. STRYKEB. 

